The war in Iraq has begun and brings with it a new era of U.S. foreign policy through globalization. Globalization and how countries react to it are important. Nations accepting globalization and open markets, democratization and basic corporate standards will see their standards of living rise.
Countries with the lowest standards of living are those that either flatly rejected globalization or did not change to accommodate it. Unfortunately for those states (Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Middle Eastern states, most African states and areas of the Caribbean) globalization is not easily stopped. It is not a coincidence the countries listed above are where terrorism thrives.
What does this have to do with a new era of foreign policy? It’s quite simple and pragmatic: The greatest threat to U.S. security comes from countries where globalization is nonexistent (or failing miserably) and the resulting conditions (high unemployment, low pay and instability) provide fertile grounds for potential terrorists. It is in the globalized world’s best interests to export one very important commodity to these countries and regions: stability. How is stability achieved? Security.
If the United States wants to eliminate terrorism’s fertile grounds, it must strategically place armed forces in threatening and unstable regions and make them safe for globalization, which demands stability.
It is apparent after the Cold War’s end that only the United States has the resources, will and power to provide security. This idea is not new, nor is it an unprecedented effort to expand arrogant American imperialism, as critics might claim.
In a recently published article, Thomas Barnett of the U.S. Naval War College and a senior adviser to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld writes, “Show me a part of the world that is secure in its peace and I will show you a strong or growing ties between local militaries and the U.S. military. Show me regions where major war is inconceivable and I will show you permanent U.S. military bases and long-term security alliances. Show me the strongest investment relationships in the global economy and I will show you two postwar military occupations that remade Europe and Japan following World War II.”
Though Afghanistan was the location of war one year ago, it now is being set on the road to recovery and globalization, as long as the United States maintains its commitment to rebuild. The same will be true for Iraq after coaltion forces successfully deliver security and rebuild. However, the journey to globalization is neither easy nor instantaneous; it demands commitment and thankfully is a high priority of President Bush and his advisers.
So if Iraq is a good first step, what is next? Logically the next step should be North Korea. North Korea’s leader Kim Chong-il poses a serious threat and as more time passes it seems less likely the world can deal with this situation diplomatically.
Sometimes forcible regime change is necessary in places such as North Korea and Iran. Most importantly, a final resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is absolutely necessary.
Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Liberation Organization has not only haphazardly “attempted” to end terrorism against Israelis, it has supported it. What also is apparent on the Palestinian West Bank is the next generations have no intention of stopping.
After decades of bickering the Israelis offered Arafat concessions like never before, including Israeli withdrawals from portions of the West Bank. It was the offer Arafat had been waiting for, but he turned it down and called for a second uprising against the Israelis in 2000. Now, after Israel leveled the properties of Arafat’s organization, he wants to know if the deal is available. If that isn’t negotiating in bad faith, then no such thing exists.
The pragmatic solution: An independent Palestine is neither economically viable or stable. Israel is the region’s most successful democracy, but it cannot be stable as long as the West Bank is terror-driven.
Security and stability require that Israel remove the Palestinians and place them in countries such as Syria, Lebanon or Egypt that supported anti-Israeli terror. You may think the solution crazy, but put yourself in Israeli Prime Minister Sharon’s shoes. After decades of terror against your people by an enemy indifferent to death, you realize your enemy does not desire peace and must be vanquished.